After defeating Meg Lanning’s Delhi Capitals in the championship game on March 26 at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai, the Mumbai Indians, led by Harmanpreet Kaur, kicked off the year 2023 in spectacular fashion by winning the inaugural Women’s Premier League.
Yet as they prepare for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) season, which begins on March 31, the franchise will face a serious challenge. Jasprit Bumrah’s fitness is a major concern for the Rohit Sharma-led team as the elite bowler is undergoing rehabilitation following a successful back operation in New Zealand just recently.
As per several reports, Bumrah might not feature in a single game during the upcoming edition and if that turns out to be the case then it will put a lot of pressure on Mumbai’s inexperienced bowling attack. But despite whether he plays or not, Bumrah has already joined Mumbai’s squad and also met fellow pace merchant Jofra Archer as the duo was snapped together on the night of the WPL final.
Mumbai Indians franchise posted a video of the two pacers having a conversation together by taking to their Instagram account and using the caption ‘Raftar’ (Speed). Mumbai’s pace battery looks heavily depleted as their Aussie pacer Jhye Richardson has been ruled out of the upcoming season due to a hamstring injury. Jofra’s return is a major boost for the five-time champions Mumbai Indians but they will look to manage his workload properly so that he doesn’t end up breaking down yet again.
They have the services of Jason Behrendorff and his presence in the side adds variety to their bowling attack too with him being a left-arm seamer and the tall and lanky pacer has the ability to make the new ball talk too. Apart from them, they have a crop of fairly inexperienced Indian pacers like Akash Madhwal, Arjun Tendulkar, and Arshad Khan among others. Mumbai will take on Royal Challengers Bangalore in their season opener on April 2 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
